Holy, Righteous, Blameless - 1 Thessalonians Series

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

I am a trainer. I love training. I love to turn biblical ideas into action. Training is the bridge that connects ideas with action. So I love to receive training and I love to train others. I like training so much that sometimes I’m tempted to think that for any problem in ministry, training is the solution.

But when you examine things closely, training is often just a matter of talking. And talking alone doesn’t solve anything. There is a saying in Spanish, “Entre dicho y hecho, hay gran trecho.”  That means, “There is a long distance between saying it and getting it done.” Talking is easy; action is often difficult.

As I travel and meet village church planters in a variety of African countries, I have found that they too like training. They like to attend training events, and they like to train others.  But what they really appreciated is learning by example. Village church planters are always watching their trainers. Yes, they listen to the trainer’s words, but they pay closer attention to their trainer’s example.

I think the same is true in any church. Everyone loves it when the preacher gives a good sermon. But church members are watching the way their pastor lives his life. They want to know if his words prove to be true when life is tough.

The Apostle Paul knew that his actions would speak louder than words. He knew that disciple making is not just a matter of good teaching, it is a matter of being a good example.  When he wrote to the Thessalonians, he said in chapter 2 verse 10 of his first letter, “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”

Did Paul use his words to make disciples?  Yes he did. But for him, his example came first. “You are witnesses” he said, “and so is God of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.” Because the Thessalonians saw his godly example, they paid attention to his words of exhortation.

But how can a church planter live a holy, blameless life? You know the answer to that question takes longer to explain than the few minutes I have on this podcast. But here is the answer in the simplest form I can give. Trust God with your whole life. Let him deliver you from all your fears. Once you are free from fear, you will also be free of anger. You see fear and anger are very closely related. Then trust God to fill you then with his love by a baptism in the Holy Spirit. Let God’s Spirit baptize you with love.  When you do that, you too will live a holy, righteous, blameless life. Perhaps not perfect in every detail, but your life will be a powerful testimony to the truth of the words you preach and the Gospel you proclaim.  Let your good and kind heavenly Father reassure you of his love; let him deliver you from all your fears. Call on him to baptize you with his love.  There is nothing he would rather do for you today.

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #BaptismOfLove #LeadByExample